Friday, 28 July 2017

Concorde lives on

Thanks so much for your kind anniversary and bloggerversary wishes you left me on my last 2 posts. We had a wonderful sunny day in London and I took lots of photos. Once have gone through them I will of course be sharing a post of our day out.

Today I wanted to share a recent day out we enjoyed with my best friend and her hubby. We visited Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey. If you are ever nearby it should really be on your bucket list. I had never heard of it before and was so pleasantly surprised by what we found. Brooklands was home to the first motor car race track in the world, built in 1907. When those days drew to a close they were involved in aviation engineering during the war and in recent years built parts of my beloved Concorde. I was so excited to discover that they have a Concorde, the third of the 20 ever built, on site and have a "Concorde Experience" where you can still go aboard this iconic plane.

There are lots of vehicles in the museum and everywhere you look fantastic advertising artwork from the 1930s is hung from the walls.

Can you imagine the noise these old cars made?

This is part of the old track it was so steeply banked that I didn't manage to climb to the top. It was a 1 in 4 gradient and made of concrete. Just imagine those old cars hurling around the bends!

There was a Raleigh bikes part of the museum showing the Chopper bike which I never owned but longed to as a child.

I spotted my old scooter...that was about as much as my family could afford and mine was passed down to me from my brother too!

There was a London Transport Museum with all the old buses right from the horse drawn ones

We had such fun jumping on and off the route master buses. Little did I realise that I would actually replicate this is real life in London 2 weeks later. More of that in another post.

But the highlight of my day had to be our "Concorde experience."

We were able to take part in a mock "flight" and I fulfilled my dream of stepping aboard a real Concorde. She used to fly over our house every day at 5.25pm and every day I stopped what I was going, went out and looked up as she thundered past.

IRL she is much longer that I imagined, there is only one plane which will ever look this beautiful to me.

She is also a long way off the ground, on very tall legs, as she had to tilt almost vertically to take off. The guide is standing underneath here and her belly was a long way up.

These were our "boarding passes"

and up the stairs we went.

I was just a little excited 😂

We learnt about the history of Concorde and saw all the different eras of furnishings and then had a short simulated flight. It was such great fun. It was then time to disembark, here's my BF taking a photo of me

with the crew

To celebrate my visit I made a tag to put into my journal together with my ephemera from our lovely day out.

I used paints in the colours of Concorde and added the picture from the brochure. All the stamps are Tim Holtz.

The crackle paint stencilled hearts are symbolic of how it broke my heart when they took Concorde out of service and the red white and blue to show Britain owning 10 of the 20 Concordes and for bringing, together with the French, this unique plane to life.

but the stamped verse is one which sums up how I have tried to approach life.

I really did cherish this day; for a few hours at Brooklands I could relive my childhood, my teenage years and adulthood...all spent and shared with my darling Hb, best friend and her Hb.....What a day and I can now truthfully say that I have been on Concorde ...you won't fill in the detail will you ?

Enjoy your weekend and remember my giveaway is running until 9 August.The details are in my sidebar or you can follow the link here. We have a quiet weekend planned and as it looks like rain then I think it will be a crafting rather than a gardening one. Thanks for stopping by and for the kind comments you take the time to leave me.

20 comments:

What a wonderful experience for you all! I also was fascinated with the Concorde. Why did they take them out of service? You are so cute and look like a schoolgirl on the plane. Your tag is a great memory of your day. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Oh wow....I have this thing about planes....I could watch them all day and so I'm officially jealous Jane because I would have loved this!! What an adventure!! Love your little red white and blue tag to celebrate it too. Brilliant!! We did see Concorde at a distance a number of years ago when she flew into Belfast but being able to sit in her would have been amazing! Love those vintage posters too!

Looks like you had an exciting day out - trip on Concorde and all! - and I love your tag celebrating and commemorating the occasion, and how much you loved it. The crackled hearts are a treat. I can see how much fun you were having on board. I'm more in line for the horse-drawn bus and the next one after that... I like to go further back in history when I can!Alison x

Thank you for sharing this lovely post Jane. I would have had Concorde on my bucket list to actually fly in ...if it had still been on the go...such a shame they took it out of service! Anyway looks and sounds like you all had a fabulous day and your page and the sentiment befit it all.........wonderful memories of time spent with dear friends. Have a good weekend. xx

Happy bloggerversary! Your post made me realize I've been blogging that long too. (?!) I've enjoyed following your journey, and thanks for following mine too. Who would've thought computers and the internet would open our worlds so much since the times when you were playing on that scooter? Wishing you many more happy posts!

Like you everything stopped for Concorde, the most magnificent beast in the sky, she has a very special place in my heart too. Love your commemorative tag with such fabulous colours, crackled hearts and her flying across it. It looks like you had a fabulous day, it's somewhere I've often thought about visiting but never actually gone, must do it. Have a fabulous weekend xxx

What a fabulous day out Jane, I feel like I visited too. Your Tag is magnificent a true reminder of the day and your chosen wording could not be said more eloquently. Thank you for sharing another super creation with us over at That's Crafty. Enjoy your weekend. Best Wishes Tracey.

What a wonderful post, Jane! I had forgotten about concorde but we used to get so excited by it, i remember now. Brooklands isn't far from me, we should visit. Mum is always talking about the horses who delivered the milk. Love your tag to remind you of your day,

TFS your photos, looks like you had a fabulous day. I remember seeing Concorde flying overhead, years ago, quite unmistakable with it's unique wing shape. It was built only four or five miles from where I live. Super tag to celebrate your visit. xx

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About Me

Welcome to Jane's Journal. Having worked for the NHS as a physiotherapist for 34 years I now follow a crafting life selling my handmade cards in Dotty's, a local vintage tea room. My passions are as a papercrafter, silversmith, jewellery maker, and occasional cake decorator. I am a Design Team Member for Country View Crafts, Visible Image and STAMPlorations. I enjoy occasional Guest Designing for other stamp companies/card challenges. My work has been published and appeared on TV. I am also a keen photographer and gardener.
I am the wife of a very dear husband and have 2 wonderful grown up children (but always my babies to me). Our lives have been blessed by the arrival of our 2 darling grandchildren; Daisy Jane, in 2013 and Jack in 2017. We also have a very special cat called Billy who shares our home.
My blog is written to share my hobbies, crafts and gardening and to create a journal I can look back on. Thanks for visiting me here and watching my creative journey.
Please don't be shy - do leave a comment and say hello, it's great to realise that I'm not rambling to myself but even if you don't wish to just pull up a chair, make yourself comfy and have a read.
Jane x